OFFICIAL MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING OF THE
The Board of Trustees for the
Present: Henrietta Williams, Chairperson; Pam Hyneman, Vice Chairperson; Beth Gray, Secretary; Andrew Tolbert, Board Member; Dr. Doug Watson, Board Member; Johnny McGehee, A.S.B. Board Member; Janice Vaughn, A.S.D. Parent Representative; Jim Hill, A.S.B. Superintendent; Dr. Marcella Dalla Rosa, A.S.D. Superintendent; Katie Becker, Zania Musteen, Interpreters; Amy Ford, Office of the Attorney General; Members of the Deaf Community; Members of the Blind Community
08-B-015 Motion to Approve Consent Items
Ms. Williams asked for a motion to approve the Consent Items. Ms. Gray made the motion and Dr. Watson seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hill said most of the changes in the personnel items were because the employees were transferred from the deaf-blind program. He said one of the teachers left because of her husband’s job and the other resignation was because the teacher did not receive certification in a timely manner, and the last one was a retirement.
Action Items
None
Discussion Item
Report to the Public- Ken Fowler
Mr. Hill said that each year every school is supposed to make a report to the public by September 15. He said that the school did put a notice in the paper about the report and the report was given to the report the public by Mr. Fowler. He said the report will be presented to the board at this meeting.
Mr. Fowler gave each board member a copy of the school’s Report to the Public. Mr. Fowler said the school’s present enrollment is 88 and the enrollment has been trending upward the last few years. He said the schools feels that the Birth to 3 year program is helping the school’s pre-school program and an additional pre-school was added this year. There was an average of thirty-eight students per week in summer camp. He mentioned that summer camp is not done for recruitment but some of the summer camp students do enroll after attending summer camp. The Birth to 3 program is presently serving 60 students, and served 90 students during the past year. The children age out of the program at 3 years of age. Mr. Fowler said the portfolio students did well.
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He said that math is still a problem and the school knows that subject needs continued work, but the math scores showed an improvement this year. On the literacy assessment the number scoring proficient, or advanced, tripled from the previous year and literacy continues to be the strongest area. The Health Committee is looking at the overall health of the students, which includes the body mass index. The majority of the parents are choosing to participate in the body mass index. A number of teachers are on State committees, which include the test bias committee, science frameworks committee, family and consumer science frameworks committee. Mr. Hill added that when the staff was first appointed to the bias committees, they had to speak up and say what would not work for blind students and now they are seeing teachers of sighted students speak up. He said in the long run it’s going to have an impact on the biases that have existed. Mr. Fowler continued his report giving an overview of the information contained in the handout. The board thanked Mr. Fowler for the good report.
Superintendent’s Report
Mr. Hill gave the board members a list of adaptive technology
equipment used at the school. He said the school is on the cutting edge in
Mr. Hill said that news station Channel 7 is doing a feature
on the history of the school which will be shown September 21 at
Well-known author Beth Finke will be at the school on Oct. 2. Ms. Finke is blind and one of her books is Hanni and Beth and Safe and Sound. She will be doing a two day seminar through disabilities workshop.
Mr. Hill said the school participated in National Encouragement Day on Friday and each student received a certificate from their teachers listing something the student does well. He said the certificates meant a lot to the students because they were recognized for their accomplishments.
Mr. Hill said new information has been received regarding the school’s insurance plans, Health Advantage and NovaSys. He said that the NovaSys premiums are increasing, with the family plan going from $200 to $260 and Health Advantage is increasing from $180 to $221 for the family plan, and from $49 to $52 for the individual plan. They also offer a $10 discount for completing the Health Survey.
Mr. Hill invited the board members to be his guest at a
fundraiser which is being sponsored by NAPVI and the
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There being no further business for the
Ms. Williams said she received a call last month concerning the taping of the executive session. She said someone was concerned that the session was being taped because the monitors were on and wasn’t sure if it was being taped or not at the School for the Deaf. Ms. Williams said she wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention that the executive session should not be taped and to make sure all equipment is turned off.
Ms. Williams said the board would be discussing an employee
matter during executive session. The board went into executive session at
Ms. Williams asked for a motion to adjourn and Mr. Tolbert
made the motion. Dr. Watson seconded the motion and the motion passed
unanimously. The meeting adjourned at
______________________________________
Henrietta Williams, Chairperson
_____________________________________
Beth
Gray, Secretary
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